Oh Gosh The Area Thick!! (Week 56)

Monday, August 26, 2024  9:24pm

Hey yall, que tal, how we doing? So yeah, as most of you can probably imagine from the last email, things have been a little interesting here in Azul this week. For a variety of reasons, honestly, but mostly because of the emergency transfers. 

Luckily my comp, Elder Senador (from Peru), is really chill AND very diligent, which is a rare combo. It's been pretty cool because we actually got to the mission at the same time, I actually sat next to him on the plane to Bahia, so we've been exchanging experiences and stories from the year we've been out, so it's been pretty fun. 

Unluckily, the other area of Azul had to close down, which means that Elder Senador and I received it on top of the area we already have, which makes the area in total GINORMOUS. When we got all the points and friends from the other area added to our map, my brain basically checked put from the overstimulation for a moment. So, in short, we are walking a LOT now, trying to get to know all the people in Azul 2 while keeping up with everyone in Azul 1. It's quite the job, but I feel very useful doing it, so I don't mind.

So yeah, we honestly don't have a ton of progressing friends right now, mostly because I don't know the majority of them, but we have met a few that seem to have potential, so we'll cross our fingers and pray! We're always finding new people as well, I'd like to think I've basically perfected my doorstep approach at this point, doesn't mean we haven't had a few doors slammed though. 

This week, we had our branch conference, which means we invited everyone we saw to come, and also means nobody showed up, but it's chill haha. We at least had a ton of members at the meeting, including a few lesser actives I had met, which was great to see. The meeting was also really focused on ministering and how we can help one another stay true to the gospel, which is always a much needed lesson, especially for the mission work. All the members are really animated to help us out with the work now, all ready to put in that work to become a ward soon! Now we just need to set up some good lessons. 

Well, not too sure what else to talk about! We've got zone conference this week, which should be a lot of fun, I actually haven't been able to have an interview with Presidente Antuña yet, so I'm excited. The Zone Leaders also put out a challenge to try and memorize a bunch of the favorite scriptures in the zone to win a kilo of ice cream, so of course I am going pretty hard on that. But yeah, not too much else going on, so I'll drop it off here! 

Hope yall have a great night, a great tomorrow, a great week! Remember you are very blessed and very loved!! 

Ciao for now!

Elder Montgomery

Not a fan tbh

Who the freak stuck the card in the mirror

NOOO se va el capo

Me quedo con tristeza y nada más

Nobody else was on the bus other than us

Aaaaa the areas together is a lotttt

Sign language in Spanish is wild

Quite an imposing cemetary

The whole area in the yellow is the cemetery

Some statues were pretty cool there too

Woh the Cathedral in Centro is pretty cool

Divisiones con el gran LZ Elder Green

Gotta love railway stations

This is Elder Senador btw

Am I in Japan or Argentina lol

Okey, Empecemos de Nuevo!! (Week 55)

Monday, August 19, 2024 8:46pm

Hihi everyone, buenas tardes! Hoping yall are doing great! So as normal, I have a little bit of news on the goabouts down here in the other down under, and this time, everything is getting a little spicy. 

First off, we had a pretty awesome week, Elder Aguiar and I were able to find a couple of pretty cool people, first of which was the mom of a family of six kids who's really excited to come to church. They all wanted to come yesterday, but had some plans and their car is broken, so no luck there. Hopefully they'll be able to make it this next week, we might need to round up a couple members to help take them to church if their car isn't fixed. We'll see how it goes though!

I can't remember if I've already mentioned Raul, the guy we have on baptismal date right now, or not, but we had a great talk with him and his partner, who's a member, about what they need to to do get married so Raul can get baptized, and it's looking really close now, I'd guess the first Saturday in September. Some cool facts about Raul, he's been taught for almost three years now, he's listened to the Libro de Mormón a bunch of times, he basically knows more about the gospel than his girlfriend, and, oh yeah, he's blind. Super awesome dude, I'm glad to be helping him out at the moment. 

We made some good plans with the ward missionaries this week to visit some of the more inactive members, cuz we need them right now. The branch is trying to become a ward before the end of the year, and we need 70 tithe paying members to 'level up' in that sense, so we'll be working hard to get those numbers up. That being said, I have met quite a few inactives here, and they're all a bit goofy, but it's aight, I'm sure we'll find a way to get through to them.

We just this morning received some disheartening news; we are having some emergency transfers done and Elder Aguiar will be leaving Azul. NOOOOOO, how I will go on I do not know. This week with him was really awesome and I'll miss him a lot, I'm super appreciative of his willingness to work and his efficiency when showing me how the area works, so hopefully I can keep his legacy moving forward. My new companion is Elder Senador, from Peru. He's actually one of the Elders that got here with me, but I haven't crossed paths with him that much, so I don't really know him yet, but we'll see! I'm excited to start the work with him! Oh, they also decided to merge the two areas of Azul and kick out the other elders, so now my area is gigantic and I literally have no idea what's going on over there, but it's fine, we're fine. 

Well, other than all that craziness, nothing too much else went down this week, I'm sure I'll have a lot to talk about next though. So yeah, I hope you all have a great and very blessed week, remember to look for the hand of the Lord in all things, and to pray, He wants to hear from you!

Os quiero mucho, hermanos y hermanas mios, nos veremos pronto!

Elder Montgomery

OMIGOSH LYCHEE FLAVORED FENNEKIN

AZUL BAYBEE

 

Falamos Espanhol!? (Week 54)

Monday, August 12, 2024   8:56pm

Hey erreone, how's it hanging?! Welp, had a few changes go down this last week, so I'll go ahead and start telling yall about them! 

Before all the craziness of the transfers went down, the days passed by in Monte very slowly, because there was basically a mini hurricane going on outside for like two days. It was kinda cool being inside for it, because the roof of the pension is made out of metal, so the rain made a really nice white noise-ish sound on the roof. Safe to say I had some pretty good siestas those days. Unfortunately that also meant that I spent all my time packing and doing nothing else, so it was a pretty meh disembark from Monte. 

So anyways, transfers! I finally go to go to Bahía and hang out with a bunch of friends there, a bunch of whom I hadn't seen in quite a long time! I also got to take the bus that makes rounds for the whole mission, dropping off missionaries in their various zones the whole time as well, where I ended up sat next to Elder Nieto, a good friend of mine from my first transfers in Pico. Again, super nice to be able to catch up with all these Elders that I hadn't seen in a while. 

I also ended up having to take a different bus from the center area of the zone, Olavarria, to Azul, my new area, and because no one else in Azul was changing out, I was on the bus without a companion, which honestly felt really odd, but I made it to Azul safe and sound with my new comp Elder Aguiar from Brazil! He's got about 20 months in the mission, so we have no problem communicating in our second languages, but it's still good that I picked up a little bit of Portuguese a couple months ago haha! 

I'm also the district leader of the, well, district here, so I'm in charge of making sure all my little misioneros are happy, healthy, and working, and they're all doing a really great job in the last three days I've been here, I'm excited to see how we all do this transfer!! 

Outside of that, nothing else too wild has been going on with me. I think I might have already mentioned it, but my brother Eric got his mission call a couple weeks ago and is going to the Salt Lake City West Spanish speaking mission! I'm really proud of him for making that incredible decision to serve the Lord, and I'm also psyched to be able to talk with him in Spanish sometime soon! 

Anyways anyways, it's pretty late, so I think I'll wrap up here for now. Member yall, I love ya, I think about ya, and I'm praying for ya! Have a great week!!

Elder Montgomery 

Lil bit o bean truc, first time in 'Tina

Chau, Monte!

Hermano Cristian D'Anuncio, el capo de Monte

Shonk mimimimimi

Los traslados

Te amo, Peruano

On the bus to Azul, completely alone... feels weird lol

When in Azul...

Ooo Spanish Pride and Prejudice a member had

Goat statue cuz why not

First Sunday in Azul ft. Elder Aguiar!!

I'm Blue (Week 53)

Monday, August 5, 2024    4:34pm

Heyheyhey how's it going mis amigos? Welp, another transfer has come and gone just like that, and as usual, we had a really amazing week right before we receive the changes. Odd how that works, isn't it? 

Well, there was a lot of miracles this week, first of which was a dude we found named Nahuel. He'd talked to a few missionaries before, and he thinks we're 'chicos buenos,' but he doesn't like churches very much. He's got a few interesting beliefs when it comes to gospel, like how he doesn't think Jesus was perfect n odd things like that, so we've been trying to help him out. He's a bit intense, but I honestly am able to feel the Spirit in the few lessons we've had with him, so I don't mind teaching him still. Hopefully he can come to church soon and see it's not too bad. 

We got a pretty cool reference for a guy from Bahía that some hermanas had met. His name's Andres, and honestly he's a stud. We've only had one lesson with him, but he loved the message of the Restoration and totally accepted un Libro de Mormón, also wanted to come to church, but had some pretty bad headaches and couldn't come. We had actually had a bit of a struggle having the lesson with him because he's been going through some chemo treatments, which is totally understandable, but still, I'm very hopeful for him. 

One of the members here was able to come with us to a great lesson with a woman named Ester and her granddaughter Naiara, and that lesson was amazing. Ester had talked with some of  the other missionaries before and had a LdM and everything, but had never had an actual lesson before, as the other missionaries weren't able to get a member to come with them. She really opened up to us about her struggles, doubts, and fears and asked some great questions, overall was just going so well, well enough that I felt to put a baptismal date with Ester. She told us she was open to the idea, but wanted to come to church first to see how it was, and luckily enough she and Naiara were both able to make it on Sunday for fast and testimony meeting, which was also amazing. We have another lesson planned on Saturday with her, so here's to hoping we get a date set!

One of the craziest things this week was with our great friend Willy. Very randomly this week we walked past his house just as he was pulling into his driveway, so we waited for a sec to say hi to him. He immediately jumped out of his car, really happy to see us, and says, 'Hey Elders! When can I get baptized?' I have never been so surprised by something before! We have a lesson set on Wednesday to talk about it, as we still have a couple of things to teach him before he can get in the font, but he has that desire, which is the most important part! I'm so excited to see how it goes! 

Sadly, I won't be here for Willy's baptism, because, as I mentioned before, transfers came, and president actually already called us to let us know what's happening, which was wild, he usually doesn't do it that early. So, this transfer, I will be going to a city called Azul, which is in the Olavarria zone more towards the north of the mission. I'll also be stepping up into the position of District Leader, so I'll have some added responsibilities, but no problem, oldest of seven here, extra responsibilities are my jam. I'm excited to see how everything's going over there and how I can help everything improve over there! Another new beginning, no? 

Anyways, nothing else too crazy this week, I'm just really glad for the time I've had in Monte, all the awesome people, awesome lessons, and awesome beach pics will be missed, pero hay que seguir! 

I'll talk to yall next week, as always! 

Mucho amor! 

Elder Montgomery 

Tried my hand at Philly Cheesesteaks (Thanks for the recipe @Elder Malone)

Divisions with Elder Arias

Hadn't visited the beach in a hot minute

La noche de hogar

Headin tuh chirch

'We don't have a suit pic, Elder!'

Ultimo consejo de distrito del traslado

Hno Martin💪

Eric’s Mission Call

 We got to talk to Elder Montgomery an extra time this week because he was able to video call to see Eric open his mission call!

There were lots of guesses spanning all over the world 🌎, but even though Eric was really hoping to go somewhere Dutch-speaking, he had been saying that he was pretty sure it was going to be Utah, specifically Salt Lake City. And so it was pretty crazy when he read:

UTAH SALT LAKE CITY WEST Mission, Spanish speaking

So, that’s where missionary son number 2 will heading. First to the Provo MTC in October, and then the Salt Lake area in November. 

It was also our annual Harry Potter Birthday Party that night, so we shared our treats with all of the friends and family who came over.

Eric and Matt were able to message a bit later that night. These are a couple of excerpts. Pretty cool that they’ll both know Spanish!